


Fate - The Wolves of Mibu

by SnowyAria



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Fate/stay night - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Custom Grail War, F/F, Fantasy, Holy Grail War (Fate), Kendo, Samurai, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:49:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21800977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyAria/pseuds/SnowyAria
Summary: Alina Gardner is a college student who wants nothing more than to stand on her own. After the death of her parents five years ago, she fell into isolation and depression until she discovered kendo, which helped her grow and open up. However, losing a match brings back those terrible feelings. One day, she hears of a way to summon a hero from the past into the modern world. Skipping past the details, she tries to summon a samurai to train her and ends up with a young, slightly arrogant, and reckless Okita Souji. Together, they must fight to uncover the secrets behind the Holy Grail War that has begun in the city.A custom Holy Grail War story with some existing Fate characters and a few new heroes added to the mix. The full cast isn't listed to avoid spoilers, but may be added as the story goes along. The full story is outlined and chapters will be added as they're written!If you like my work, I wrote a book as well! - https://twitter.com/SnowyAria/status/1199744403977359360
Relationships: Okita Souji | Sakura Saber / Protagonist
Kudos: 12





	1. More Than She Bargained For

“30 seconds!”

Sweat poured down Alina’s face, trapped behind the metal cage of her kendo helmet. She had to score a point soon or another match would end in a stalemate. Her shinai wavered as her arms wanted to give out. She tried to force an opening, but any movement she began was immediately reacted against, ready to be countered. Her opponent stared her down, daring her to make a move.

“15 seconds!”

Just at the referee’s call distracted Alina, her opponent lunged in for a strike to her head. _I won’t make it!_ she panicked. At that moment, her reflexes kicked in and a familiar chant flowed through her head.

_“Time alter.”_

Reality jarred to a lower speed, the bamboo sword racing towards her head now looking like a stick waved by a child. Alina dodged diagonally forward and swung towards her opponent’s exposed side, slamming her sword into their armor.

“ _Dou!”_ she shouted, her momentum pushing the sword across her opponent’s stomach as she sped past them and turned around, ready to continue. However, a whistle blew, and two raised flags held by other students indicated she scored a point. Alina let the air out of her lungs and breathed heavily now that she could relax. As she kneeled in front of her opponent and sheathed her sword, she noticed a sharp glare from her sensei who held the third unraised flag. It felt like Morisaki-sensei wanted to say something, but instead she just closed her eyes and turned away.

_She couldn’t have realized I used magic just then, could she?_ Alina wondered, but realized no one would expect something like that. It must have looked strange though, nearly three minutes of fighting only to have a burst of speed for a point at the last second. She cursed herself for having used the spell; she hadn’t meant to, but her desire to win got the better of her. She couldn’t keep doing this.

“That was a good example of _men-nuki-dou_ , or dodging a strike to the head by side-stepping and hitting the opponent’s side. However, it should not have taken you three minutes to reach that point! Neither of you could commit to anything until the end! You’d raise your arms or shift your shinai, but you’d immediately stop when the opponent began to react! You ruled off the attack as a failure before you even swung! Stopping an attack that will leave you open is good, sure. But you just have no confidence if you just keep imagining your opponent has already beaten you. This is a practice match; you’ll have to lose to learn how to win. Just get over that. Now line up for the end of class.”

“H-hai,” Alina responded with a lack of energy. She knew her sensei had a point, but she couldn’t stand that feeling of dread, of uselessness as she began to lose. She wanted to be confident, to stand up by herself in the world, but losing made her feel cornered and alone. That feeling lead to her accidently stumbling upon time magic, or at least what she assumed it to be, which became her crutch against loss. She tried to avoid using it, but when you’re in pain, it’s hard to avoid reaching for quick relief.

At her sensei’s command, Alina untied the string holding her helmet on and slowly pulled it off, feeling the cool touch of the AC against her skin. She patted the sweat off her face with the small towel that covered her hair, then folded it neatly and placed it into her helmet. She ran a hand through her matted, short amber hair to fluff it up a little before bowing out with the class. The rest of her equipment came off in a flash, and she was out the door into the brisk fall air before anyone could stop her.

* * *

The sun hung over the ocean in the distance, sending a dance of sparkling lights off the surface. Their dojo sat amongst other houses on a hill that overlooked the large college city below. California redwoods and the coastal mountains covered the land behind them. The area had enough houses that a bus route ran up here, so it wasn’t a rich nest of houses on a private hill. But for Morisaki-sensei to afford a custom-built Japanese mansion with an attached dojo, Alina could only imagine how much that could have cost.

Alina lived just down the block from the dojo, in a smaller single-story house. Being so close, she always just changed at home. It felt a little weird wearing her navy-blue practice gi and hakama in public, but everyone had seen her do it a thousand times by now anyway. She jogged down the sidewalk and across the street, eager to get home.

“I’m home!” Alina called, swinging the front door open to her house before nudging it closed with her foot and locking the door. No one responded in the painfully quiet house, as expected. She paused, her thoughts pulled into the silence. Her parents passed away nearly five years ago at this point. Her peaceful childhood came to a suddenly close when she was sixteen, and the whirlwind of ceremonies and paperwork came and left just as suddenly. This many years later, she still couldn’t break the habit of saying hello. Maybe they didn’t really die; maybe something horrible happened, but they just now managed to get home and were waiting for her. She shook off those thoughts; something awaited her today.

The living room furniture had been pushed aside, with a stack of game consoles and samurai movie DVDs shoved against the far wall. A white magic circle crafted on top of a large rug occupied much of the room. The circle sat several feet in diameter, with a six-pointed star in the center and strange letters formed by dripping more candles than she remembered. She followed the instructions exactly as she found them online. She wasn’t sure where they came from, but it appeared as a tab in her internet browser like she accidently opened an incorrect link. Something about that mysterious appearance just begged her to try it.

“Seven heroes, seven masters. One wish,” she muttered, reading over the instructions once again. It all seemed like a silly fantasy, but after stumbling across what felt like magic herself, she couldn’t resist trying. She brushed over the details of the battle; what drew her in was the possibility of summoning a hero from the past. If she could summon a samurai, they could train her as a person with real battle experience. She could be strong like they were.

“I should use a catalyst, if I have one,” she noted. Obviously, a college student like her had no relic to an ancient hero, so the best she could think of was placing her shinai on the brown leather couch that acted as an alter for the ritual. Maybe this way, she could attract a samurai of some kind. _They’d probably prefer a katana, sure, but that’s not something college students tend to have either._

She ran into the kitchen, found a leftover candle amongst several empty boxes, then lit the wick with a lighter. “Here we go,” she muttered to herself, nervous about what she’d do if this actually worked. She hadn’t thought about the logistics of having a warrior summoned to her world, but she reasoned that she would cross that bridge if she ever got there. _This probably won’t work anyway_ , she thought to shake off her concerns. With the instructions opened on her phone, she began to read.

“Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. As each is fulfilled, so must it be destroyed.” She walked around the circle, dripping the wax onto different parts to ‘fill’ the circle.

“A foundation of iron and silver.” _Of white candles really, I’m not wasting that much money on this._ “Upon it rests the cornerstone and the Archduke of Contracts. Above them, my ancestor, the great Master…, uh, it says fill in the blank…, my ancestor, the great Master! Period! Become the wall that repels the gale. The four gates close tightly. Now, burst from the crown and follow the winding road that leads to the kingdom!”

“I call to thee. Thy body, borne of my will. My fate, resting on thy sword!” _I’m so glad I’m home alone, this is embarrassing!_ Just as she thought of stopping however, a strange force pushed against her hand. She wondered if her mind was playing tricks on her to play along, but the energy from the circle grew as she continued. There was no stopping now.

“If thou wilt bend to my will, my justice, heed the Grail’s call, and give your answer! I swear before you: I will become all that is good in the world. I shall eradicate all that is evil in the world. Seven Heavens, clad in the three holy souls, cast aside your shackles and come forth. Guardian of the Scales!”

The circle bore a torrent of wind, billowing her hair and kendo gi as if standing in front of a storm. It stung her eyes and threatened to knock her over. She crouched and squinted, waiting helplessly for the gale to end. Before long, the wind stopped at once, followed by the gentle sound of feet stepping onto the rug.

Alina slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see a beautiful woman standing in front of her, with chin-length cream-colored hair partially tied back with a black bow. A sky blue haori with trim of white mountains rested on her slim shoulders over a white kimono, with two Japanese swords held in her black belt. Thick black guards that looked like hardened leather protected her arms and legs. She gazed down at Alina with an expression that read like surprised disgust.

“Servant, Saber. I have arrived according to your summons. I ask of thee; are _you_ my master?”

Alina’s mind drew a blank as reality slowly caught up to her mind. _It actually worked!_ She now regretted not reading the rest of the details of this “holy grail war” very closely! “I… yes, I believe that I’m your master now, if I understand what’s going on. I’m Alina Gardner.”

“By that response and this brutish summoning circle made of… candles on a rug, I see that you’re a novice. I shall not grant you knowledge of my true name, unless you can prove yourself worthy,” the samurai standing over her responded, crossing her arms.

“You’re… Okita Souji, right?”

“ _HOW!?_ ” the girl shouted in exasperation, falling onto her knees and slamming her palms onto the ground in one impressively swift motion. She looked at Alina with lips curled in a pout.

_Ahh, that was a lucky guess._ “Well, you’re wearing a Shinsengumi haori, so that limits the possibilities dramatically. Not to mention only major members would be famous enough to become heroic spirits, I’d imagine. On top of that, Okita Souji was rumored to be very handsome and he died young, so you fit the bill.”

Okita blushed and turned away at the word handsome. “Y-your logic is sound, I’ll give you that. T-though handsome, that’s not fair, Master…” the girl responded, much more timidly than her introduction. Okita stood back up, then reached down to help Alina off the ground.

“W-well, then, let’s try again. I’m Okita Souji, First Captain of the Shinsengumi,” she said, looking down at Alina with a radiant smile. “I tried to channel Hijikata’s personality to hide who I was, but that failed quickly. At least now I can relax and be myself. I’m looking forward to working with you, Master!”

“A-ah, same here, Okita,” Alina responded with an awkward smile as she accepted Okita’s hand. She felt odd having a girl her age call her Master, maybe they could work on that. However, those thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone trying to open the front door.

“Huh, you locked the door, Alina?” she heard. Alina’s heart raced in panic. She crudely waved Okita off the rug, haphazardly rolled it up, then tossed the bundle into Okita’s hands and pointed down the hall.

“I’m very sorry, we still have a lot of talk about, but please hide with this in one of the rooms back there!” she whispered sharply.

“H-hai, Master!” Okita responded with a curt nod before jogging down the hall and into one of the bedrooms. Just as Okita closed the door, the front door lock turned, and the door opened.

“Ah, h-hello Morisaki-sensei-er, Tsukasa,” Alina greeted awkwardly.

“You left the dojo without me,” Tsukasa said, looking at Alina with a bit of a frown. Her long, black hair sat tied neatly behind her over a loose white shirt, and her face showed little sign of having just strenuously exercised in kendo practice.

“Sorry, I forgot it was Thursday.”

“And you’re still in your practice uniform! Go change and shower off, I’ll start dinner,” she ordered, letting herself in and taking off her shoes. “And unpack your _bogu_ , you don’t want it to smell!”

“Y-yes ma’am,” Alina gave in. She quickly scanned the living room for signs that she just brought a samurai into the house, but the only thing amiss was her shinai sitting on the couch. There weren’t any pictures on the wall in this room, so nothing got blown over. Grabbing the sword on the couch and her armor bag, she hauled them back to her room.

_No sign of Okita here,_ she thought, wondering what room she ran into. She unzipped her bag and placed her armor on the floor so it could air out properly. Having something strapped to your face that smelled awful would not be very fun during practice. As she got up to leave, she noticed the poster on her wall of characters from a video game based off the Shinsengumi. In that world, a lone girl found herself living with the men of the police force. You could choose to pursue any of the members romantically, but in the end, most of them met a tragic fate as they did in history. She was tempted to show it to Okita later and see if she complained about how inaccurate it was. Glancing at another poster, this time of Oda Nobunaga, she sighed in relief that she didn’t summon someone as arrogant and chaotic as he might have been.

She pulled off her kendo gi, tossed it onto the floor, and hopped in the shower a room over. The warm water on her face helped her zone out and think about what just happened. She should be panicking about how she just wound up in some war she didn’t understand, but the image of Okita Souji wouldn’t leave her head. _It was more than a lucky guess_. It didn’t make any sense, but upon seeing her face, Alina just knew who she was. _Maybe the games I played were just pretty accurate_ , she thought. But in the games, Okita was always an attractive young man, not a beautiful girl with a bright smile. She turned off the shower, squeezed the water out of her short hair, and dried herself off.

“Dinner’s almost ready, but could you chop some vegetables?” Alina heard as she emerged from the bathroom in a simple black t-shirt and shorts.

“Y-yeah,” she called back, glancing around for signs of Okita. _She’s staying quiet, that’s good_. Alina half-expected her to get bored and wander into the kitchen.

_“I’m not some idiot who would waltz in front of a normal person and say hi.”_ Alina jumped in surprise and yelped a little.

“What was that?” Tsukasa called from the kitchen.

“Sorry, I thought I saw a spider, it was just dust,” Alina replied with a forced laugh. _Am I imagining things now?_

 _“Servants can talk to their masters directly,”_ Okita replied mentally.

_“A-am I talking to you right now!?”_

_“Yup! The whole time in the shower too! You gotta stop thinking so loudly~”_

_Ahh, I’m so stupid_! Alina screamed, wanting to hit her head on the wall. _“S-so are you waiting in one of the back rooms?”_ she asked, attempting to change the topic.

_“Nope, I dropped the rug off and went into spirit form. I see now why you put the summoning circle on the rug, nice thinking!”_

_“Spirit form?”_ Alina asked while washing off some carrots and celery in the sink. After, she nudged open a cabinet with her foot and pulled out a cutting board, then began chopping.

_“Ah right, gotta start from the beginning. A servant takes mana to stay materialized, which we are given by you. But when we’re not needed, we can dematerialize and just kinda float around you. So, I’m next to you, but I don’t have a physical form.”_

_“I-I see… And by ‘when needed,’ you mean to fight in this contest, right?”_

_“Contest is one way to put it, but a death match is more accurate. There are seven servants led by seven masters and only one can get the Holy Grail, which will grant the winning master and servant a wish.”_

_“D-did I get myself into something super dangerous!?”_ Alina thought, suddenly panicking.

_“W-well I won’t say no,”_ Okita replied, sounding like she was searching for her words. _“But a master doesn’t_ have _to die, only the servants. So, you can lose and still survive. Anyway, you summoned me as a Saber, which is the strongest class. We’ll be fine!”_

Alina struggled a little to accept Okita’s optimism but tried not to stress too much for now. She gathered the chopped vegetables on the cutting board and emptied them into the soup that Tsukasa had been preparing. The smell of soy sauce and chicken broth wafted up as the vegetables plummeted in.

“You’re awfully quiet, everything okay Alina?” Tsukasa called from the dining room table.

“Yeah, just a bit tired,” she replied, putting the lid back on the pot and rinsing off the cutting board.

“How do you feel about your nidan test coming up?” Tsukasa asked.

“I’m not very confident,” Alina replied simply.

“That’s a good answer,” Tsukasa laughed. “If you said you were ready, I’d have to knock you down a peg.” Alina didn’t turn to Tsukasa and just gazed out the window above the sink at the trees outside. “You just got to attack more confidently and really put on the pressure, then I’m sure you’d—”

“You already gave a hell of a lecture at the dojo, please not again,” Alina interrupted, dropping the cutting board a little roughly into the drain.

“Ah, sorry…” Tsukasa replied before going quiet. After a minute or two of silence, the timer went off, and Alina turned off the heat to the soup. She dished two bowls out and brought them to the table, setting one in front of Tsukasa.

“Thanks,” Tsukasa said with an attempted smile, but Alina just absent-mindedly nodded and sat down, her eyes on the rocking surface of the soup.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be that harsh,” Alina muttered.

“Oh no, it’s okay! I said too much,” Tsukasa hastily responded. Dinner carried on slowly with simple conversation as Alina slowly munched on bread and sipped her soup. She wasn’t sure why being lectured by Tsukasa irritated her so much. _It’s not like she was wrong…_

Something fluttered in her vision, and she nearly fell out of her chair when she saw a hand making bunny ears floating behind Tsukasa. Okita grinned before vanishing again just as Tsukasa turned around.

“You seem off today, maybe you should rest early,” Tsukasa said with a worried frown.

“Y-yeah, maybe I’ll do that,” Alina said, averting her gaze and getting up out of her chair. “Probably just a bit stressed from class,” she added as an excuse. Tsukasa quickly finished the rest of her soup and got up as well.

After Tsukasa put away the leftovers, she made her way to the front door and slipped on her shoes. She glanced back at Alina, looking like she was about to say something, but hesitated. Instead, she reached for the doorknob and opened the door. “Take it easy, okay?” she said before closing the door behind her.

A few moments later, Alina heard the sound of feet landing on the tile behind her. “Who was that?” Okita asked, appearing physically behind her.

“That was my mother’s friend, Tsukasa. She was my legal guardian after my parents died. She comes by once a week for dinner to check up on me, though we already see each other during kendo anyway.”

“There’s not much time to talk casually when practicing, so it makes sense,” Okita remarked.

“Anyway, now that we’re alone again, I want you to show me your skills!” Alina suddenly said, fired up out of nowhere. “Let’s have a match!”

“You’re challenging the best swordsman in the Shinsengumi, is that wise?” Okita replied, raising her eyebrows slightly.

“I want to know what my Saber can do. I trust you won’t hurt me.” _I can’t imagine her as anything but a beautiful girl at this rate._

“Just a beautiful girl, huh?” Okita replied, her expression icing over.

_Ahh, that thought was out loud for her!_

* * *

The two swordswomen stood in the grassy backyard, Alina in full kendo armor over her t-shirt and Okita the same as before. Okita riled her up earlier by saying armor wasn’t necessary for her if she wouldn’t be hit, but Alina felt the truth of those words as she stared down the warrior in front of her. Okita stood perfectly motionless, her shinai remaining dead still. Her eyes locked onto Alina’s. No more lighthearted energy danced about in them. Now just a cold, icy gaze drilled into her.

Alina felt herself shake slightly in fear. She was in no danger, but this person was leagues beyond her. This person had fought tooth and nail to survive in swordfights. _I’m already convinced about her skills now, why did I ask to fight!?_

Without as much as a sign, Okita seemed to glide forward and strike Alina’s head with ease. “Don’t get distracted on the battlefield,” Okita spat out, sounding more like her Hijikata impression from earlier.

“Hai!” Alina responded instinctively. She took a deep breath and watched Okita more closely. _There has to be something I can react to!_ After a few tense moments, Okita’s sword shifted upwards slightly. _She’s going for my head again!_ Alina thought, jumping forward to hit Okita’s now open wrist.

Without any hint of desperation, Okita lightly stepped to the side, letting Alina’s sword glide uselessly past her. Her own blade smacked against Alina’s helmet once again.

“That’s two, I think you get the point,” Okita replied, looking a bit annoyed.

“Not just yet,” Alina spat out, raising her sword once again. Okita sighed and lunged immediately at Alina, probably hoping to end this farce.

“ _Time alter!”_

Okita’s blade suddenly slowed down drastically, giving Alina just enough time to block the strike with her own sword. Both fighters pushed close to each other, shinai locking in front of them. Okita pushed back first, then sliced at Alina’s side. Alina pushed herself back just enough avoid the swing as it barely arced in front of her.

_Time has slowed down, but it’s still too intense!_ she thought, throwing herself forward to avoid losing tempo. Okita blocked and countered anything thrown at her, but Alina kept pace. However, her movements weren’t as clean and refined, leading her to tire out as the fight dragged on. Soon a strike came that she couldn’t escape from.

However, a will foreign to her own kicked her body off the ground and out of the way. It felt like an old muscle memory as her blade swung up then down towards Okita’s shoulders. But even that was cut off by Okita’s sword resting on Alina’s throat.

“I-I yield,” Alina called, stunned by the pressure Okita gave off. A chill ran down her back when Okita’s blade stopped just short of her neck. It snapped her back to reality, out of whatever just happened.

“You can get that far with magic, that’s just unfair,” Okita pouted, reverting back to her more bouncy, relaxed self. “What was that at the end though, I thought shoulders weren’t valid targets in your kendo?”

“They’re not legal targets, no,” Alina confirmed in a mumble as she removed her helmet. “It just came naturally for some reason, maybe I was just desperate.” Okita looked unconvinced and stepped closer, peering her up and down. The setting sun painted Okita’s cream hair a more burning bright orange than earlier. Not even a drop of sweat showed on her face. “Hey, hey,” Alina complained, instinctively backing up away from the girl’s wandering eyes.

“What kind of magic was that?” Okita asked, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Time altering magic, I think. I’ve never had anyone to ask, so I’m not really sure. I just stumbled across it during kendo one day. I can’t really use it unless I’m under pressure though.”

“I don’t think you’re right,” Okita muttered before looking back up at Alina’s face. “Your instincts felt sharper. If you were just going twice as fast, you still wouldn’t have been able to keep up.”

_Wow, that’s a humble brag,_ Alina thought with amusement. That thought was cut off by Okita throwing her head to the side like an animal hearing something far away. Alina turned towards the forest in the distance where Okita looked, but nothing seemed amiss to her.

“Another Servant is using magic nearby, rather blatantly I might add,” Okita explained, bouncing a little on her feet in excitement. “Might as show you what a Holy Grail War is truly about by jumping in!”

* * *

The sun just finished setting over the mountains, casting a faint twilight over the town that would soon be fully night. Alina and Okita jogged down the sidewalk towards the forest where the magic traces came from. Alina covered her head with a black hoodie to avoid revealing her identity. She managed to convince Okita to leave her Shinsengumi haori behind with how obvious it made her true name. Okita seemed rather unwilling to part with it, hesitating to take it off until Alina prodded her.

_I’ll have to apologize to her about that later,_ Alina thought. She gripped a solid wood sword in her left hand, the closest thing to a weapon she had around the house. _This won’t help in a real fight, but it might buy me several seconds._

As they reached the end of an empty street that lead to a trailhead, even she could hear the clashing of metal ahead of them. “They’re pretty close,” Alina whispered. Okita held her sheathed katana in her left hand, ready to pull it out in a moment’s notice. However, her stern concentration dropped as a rough, deep battle cry echoed around them. It was a raw, guttural shout that nailed her feet to the ground and froze her limbs. She would be destroyed fighting an opponent like that.

Okita however, stared in wide-eyed shock, her left arm now limp at her side.

“Hijikata-san…” she mumbled before sprinting in a mad dash into the forest, leaving Alina alone on the street.

“W-wait!” Alina shouted, but sudden footsteps behind her made her spin around just in time to avoid something swinging at her.

“Your Servant just left you alone to die, that makes things easier,” the newcomer called out. Alina stumbled backwards into the forest, her heart racing in her chest. She could hardly make out the shape of someone with long, tied back hair pointing a sword of some kind at her as they slowly walked towards Alina. _I can’t win against that!_ Alina panicked, bumping up against a tree and shrinking against it. She remembered the wooden sword in her hand, but she froze in terror seeing a real blade aimed at her.

_“Okita!!”_


	2. The Assassin of Chivalry

# Chapter 2 – The Assassin of Chivalry

_This doesn’t make any sense!_ Okita thought as she shot through the darkening forest towards the sounds of clashing steel. She nimbly jumped over tree roots and rocks, dashing off the trail deeper into the woods. _If Hijikata is here, then… my wish might have already been granted!_ She shook her head to push the thoughts away; if he was in danger, then it was clear what she had to do. As she grew closer, the sound of chains rattling echoed, followed by a loud slam as a nearby tree shook.

Okita finally caught sight of her fellow samurai, back against a tree and chains crushing into his body. A western knight in black armor stood mere feet away, panting as sweat poured down his face. A longsword rested in one hand, the tip resting on the leaf-covered forest floor. He lifted part of his deep blue cloak and briefly wiped his face with it, then swept his gray hair back behind him.

“You put up hell of a hand-to-hand fight for an Archer,” he commented, raising the longsword once again to kill his opponent on the spot. Hijikata struggled against the chains, but he couldn’t pull away or reach his own sword. Before the knight could finish the swing, Okita closed the remaining distance and bashed the large blade away. She took advantage of the knight’s surprise and launched forward into a flurry of attacks. She refused to let the man rest as she took control of the fight’s tempo. He blocked swing after swing, but he couldn’t react against her speed in his tired state. One lapse in judgement would mean his end.

“Saber,” he spat out, his eyebrows furrowed in anger as he pushed himself backwards. Okita’s expression showed nothing but ice as she took up the distance he gave. Soon Okita’s blade cut through the space where he once stood as his body silently dematerialized. With it, the chains fell onto the ground with a rattle, and Hijikata sighed in relief.

“Hijikata-san, are you okay!?” Okita suddenly shouted, switching out of battle mode and running over to her old friend. She scanned him up and down, but she couldn’t see any holes in his western white shirt or black vest. His short black hair sat in a frizzed mess just as she remembered. She sighed and smiled in relief.

“You… Can’t say I was expecting to see you here,” he replied simply before scanning the forest around them.

“You!?” she shouted, grabbed Hijikata’s shirt with two hands and yanking him closer. “That’s all you have to say to me after I finally got a second chance!?”

“Saber, please—”

“ _Saber!?_ Do you even remember me!? Okita Souji! First Command—”

Hijikata’s hand slammed on top of Okita’s head, stunning her into silence. She frowned and rubbed the soon to be bump on her head.

“We’re supposed to keep out true names _secret_ , Okita,” he replied with a scowl. “Now the whole world knows who we both are!”

Okita stared back blankly with mouth slightly open before slowly closing it and glancing away. “…oh.”

Hijikata sighed and dropped his hand more gently on Okita’s shoulder. “It’s good to see you healthy again, Okita. Welcome back to the Shinsengumi.”

Okita’s eyes widen, and her mouth grew into the most childish grin imaginable as she launched into a hug around her Vice Commander.

“I’m home!” Her embrace only lasted a few seconds before something important crossed her mind.

“Alina!” she shouted, pulling herself away from Hijikata and looking back where she came. “I need to get back to my Master!”

“I think my Master might have found yours,” Hijikata coldly noted. “Let’s go!”

* * *

_I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead!_ was all Alina could think as she dodged the live blade swinging at her. It cut into the tree she leaned on moments before, with bits of bark flying into the air.

“ _Time alter!”_ she screamed in her head, with the familiar sensation of time creeping to a halt taking over. Her breath was ragged though; she didn’t have the energy to use it three times in one day. Another swing came towards her shoulder. She kicked off the ground, pushing herself further back.

_Will Okita find me if I run into the forest?_ she wondered, glancing behind her into the darkness. Her assailant silently blocked the path back to civilization ahead of her. Faint moonlight through the trees barely offered any illumination. _If I can slip behind a tree and hold my breath, I might lose them._ But every retreat was countered by a quick step forward. Her opponent put on pressure, launching their blade forward towards her throat. Alina knocked it off course with her wooden sword, noting in the moonlight that it looked like a katana.

_That might mean they have a similar fighting style to what I know from kendo,_ she thought. _If I can strike their head, they might be dazed enough for me to slip past!_ She tried to calm herself down, to watch her opponent’s blade for subtle movement, but couldn’t slow down her heart. The assailant raised their sword above their head, and Alina panicked, raising her own to block.

A quick rush of air sounded in front of her, and the top half of her wooden sword clacked on the ground below.

_T-that’s it,_ Alina thought simply. _This is the end._ There was a weird serene peace to knowing how one would die. She waited almost patiently in that quiet moment for the end.

“Master!” she heard instead as someone rushed in front of her. Sparks briefly lit up the graceful warrior as Okita’s sword slid across the unknown attacker's blade.

“Don’t hurt my Master, Okita,” an unknown voice called from the side. She turned to see a tall man running out of the forest behind Okita. _Could that be Hijikata?_

“Hai!” Okita quickly responded, pulling back to a defensive stance in front of Alina.

“Archer, why aren’t you attacking the enemy servant?” the assailant called out sharply.

_Wait, I know that voice…_

“She’s an old comrade of mine, not to mention she saved my life. If you use a command seal to force my hand, I will kill you after,” the male samurai responded bluntly.

“Tsukasa…?” Alina muttered quietly.

“Alina?” the voice called back, much softer than a moment ago. Soon a flame materialized in her opponent’s hand and cast light all around them. Alina could make out the familiar figure of her teacher, but with a deep purple hakama and lavender gi. An empty katana sheath rested in her hakama's belt. Alina pulled back the black hood from her own jacket to show her face.

“Alina!” Tsukasa shouted in surprise, dropping her katana and rushing towards Alina. Okita lightly stepped to the side and let her pass. Tsukasa hugged her a little too quickly, nearly toppling Alina over.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to be a part of this!” she apologized profusely. Her squeezing made it a little hard for Alina to breath.

“It’s okay, back up for now,” she said, lightly pushing Tsukasa away.

Tsukasa quietly mumbled another apology. “I should have known something was wrong when your weapon broke so easily,” she said, reaching down for the piece of Alina’s sword that she cut off. Tsukasa looked over the broken sword briefly, but Alina wasn’t sure what she was looking for.

“I didn’t want to take any chances. Deception is a common tactic in a battle like this,” Tsukasa finally explained with a pained expression. “How much do you know about this war?”

“N-not much,” Alina admitted awkwardly. “It was kind of a fluke that I summoned someone.”

“For now, we should get out of here in case that Assassin hasn’t left,” the man who must have been Tsukasa’s Servant interrupted. Alina looked over at the huge samurai in western clothing with what looked like an old rifle and a katana on his waist. He turned his attention to her, his glare sending steel rod through her back. She quickly turned away.

“Yes, let’s return to my house for now,” Tsukasa offered. She picked her katana off the ground, flicked some of the dirt off, then returned it to its sheath. As the guard clicked into place, the whole sword faded out of existence.

“I want that…” Alina muttered quietly.

* * *

“Abandoning your Master, that sounds like desertion to me, Okita,” Hijikata noted with an unreadable expression as he quietly sipped his green tea at a low table in Tsukasa’s house. Okita nearly spilt her tea as she stiffened in a panic.

“N-no, that doesn’t… I didn’t… you were…” she stumbled out, looking quickly between Alina and Hijikata before throwing herself into a deep bow on the floor, first to Hijikata then to Alina.

“Please forgive me Hijikata-san, that wasn’t my intention! Please forgive me Alina, I made a poor call in the heat of the moment, I swear it won’t happen again!”

“Hijikata, please don’t make my Servant commit seppuku,” Alina replied, looking at Hijikata as long as she could before she couldn’t take his pressure. She sat cross-legged on one of the cushions, wondering how the others could stand to sit on their knees for so long.

“Oh, so you know our rules?” Hijikata remarked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

“Just from watching shows based off you guys, really. Deviating from Bushido principles and deserting seem to be the two most prominent ones out of the five rules, with the penalty being forced seppuku.”

“That is correct, yes,” Hijikata replied with an approving nod. “Though now that you are Okita’s leader, I’m in no place to enforce that code. You, on the other hand…”

“ _Alina!_ ” Okita yelled, pulling her head off the floor and crawling over to Alina. Okita buried her face in Alina’s lap and hugged her tightly.

“O-Okita!” Alina yelped out in surprise, blushing a little at the girl who suddenly grabbed her.

“Please don’t use a command seal to make me disappear!” she yelled, face down. It sounded like she was crying, but Alina couldn’t see Okita’s buried face.

“W-what’s a command seal?” Alina asked, glancing at Tsukasa. Her hand idly reached down and patted Okita’s head gently to console her.

“A command seal is a set of three spells that all Masters receive in this war. You can use one to force your Servant to obey a single command. For instance, I could have forced Hijikata to attack Okita against his will, though as he admitted, he would have killed me afterwards for it.”

“I wouldn’t want to force Okita to do anything she didn’t want to,” Alina replied, glancing down at the mass of cream-colored hair in her lap. _She’s calming down at least,_ Alina thought with a smile as she ruffled Okita’s hair a little more.

“They can also be used to achieve the impossible, such as teleporting your Servant to you from across town if you get caught in an ambush unprepared. You only have three, so use them wisely.” Tsukasa rolled up her right sleeve, revealing a three-petaled flower with what looked like a red ink outline on her upper arm. “You should have something like this on yours as well.”

_That’d be weird if I had—_ Alina thought as she lifted her sleeve, but the sight of red ink cut that thought off. The pattern on her arm looked like three elegant swords, with graceful curves pointing downwards to the same spot.

“That mark means you are a Master in this war. If you use all three, your contract with your Servant will break, so be careful.”

“I see…” Alina muttered, mildly captivated by her new tattoo. After a minute, she pulled her eyes away and rolled her sleeve back down. “It’s okay Okita, I won’t make you disappear.”

“Thank you, thank you!” Okita shouted in a muffled voice in Alina’s lap. “I’m glad I have a forgiving Master!”  
“I haven’t forgiven you yet,” Alina replied simply. Okita slowly lifted her head and peaked up at Alina.

“Y-you did abandon me in battle after all,” Alina tried to chastise, but Okita’s face was too adorable to be mad at. “Just, be careful not to do that again.”

Okita solemnly nodded and retreated back to her pillow in front of the table.

“In previous iterations of this war, the seals were on the Master’s hands,” Tsukasa continued. “It seems those who tampered with this version wanted to stay more hidden in public.”

“This has been done before?”

“Yes, several times, in fact. The original ritual was done five times in Fuyuki, Japan, though there were never conclusive results due to various reasons. The Holy Grail is said to grant the winning Servant and Master any wish they desire if they can defeat the other six. Though, this version is a little different. A terrorist group stole the research behind the original Grail and tried to create their own, with some modifications. Your parents and I, who were part of a special police force for magical affairs, were tasked to stop them. We raided their hideout and captured most of them before they could activate the grail. However, the grail was completed, and it was too dangerous for us to destroy. Instead, we were instructed to keep watch over it in secret. We all decided to move out here to America and stay out of sight.”

Alina had several questions, the biggest ones being “ _My parents were magicians!? You’re a magician!? Magical police force!?”_ but she decided she’d let Tsukasa finish her story first.

“That lasted for ten years. Unfortunately, the remaining members tracked us down and tried to steal it back. Your parents were killed defending the grail. I stopped them from taking the grail that day, but… I didn’t get there in time to save your parents. I’m sorry that I not only failed to keep them safe, but that I also hid this from you for four years.”

Several conflicting emotions circled through Alina’s head at that moment. First was a strangely happy feeling, knowing that her parents didn’t abandon her. The knowledge of what happened helped fill the void left by the mystery of their disappearance. But then sadness washed over her, realizing that her parents would never just appear at the door. They weren’t missing anymore but confirmed dead.

“Y-you protected the grail though, right?” Alina asked quietly, trying to shove her feelings down once again where they had rested for years. “Why… did all this start?”

“Before I arrived that day, the grail had been partially activated. I don’t know what it was used for, or if it was by the terrorists or your parents, but they managed to slow down the rest of the ritual. Four years later, it gathered enough energy and initiated the Holy Grail War. As to where in this town the Grail is, I’m not even sure.” Tsukasa paused to drink some tea and silence hung in the room. The two Servants sat quietly and listened, whereas Alina wasn’t sure what to say.

“How did you even summon a Servant anyway, Alina?” Tsukasa finally asked.

“I… saw the instructions online. Someone must have sent them to me, since they just showed up as a tab in my browser. I figured since I learned a magic spell earlier, maybe there was a chance it was real.”

“Learned a magic spell?” Tsukasa pressed, looking a bit concerned.

“I, uh…” Alina started, realizing she just outed her secret. “I mean, I don’t know if it’s magic or not, but it feels like I can slow down time or something…”

“Ahh, so that’s how you’re cheating at kendo,” Tsukasa said plainly.

_I’m in trouble._

“Well, now that I know just how you were winning, _STOP CHEATING AT KENDO!”_ Tsukasa yelled, slamming her palms on the table. Okita and Alina jumped, though Hijikata smiled to himself.

“I-I’m sorry, I just didn’t want to lose…” she muttered meekly.

“You’ll never get better without losing, that’s how we learn where to improve!”

“I understand that… That’s why I tried summoning a samurai…”

Silence fell over the room again. Tsukasa looked at Alina in confusion, who averted her gaze towards the floor.

“You… entered this death game, to summon a samurai… to train you?” she asked.

“I didn’t think it’d work!” Alina shouted back, really wishing to leave this topic behind.

“I’ve offered to give you one-on-one lessons,” Tsukasa frowned. Alina wanted to retort, that she didn’t want to look weak in front of the person who gave her so much already. She didn’t want Tsukasa worrying about her more than she already did. She didn’t want to take more from her parent’s friend who felt obligated to look after their orphaned daughter.

“That’s not it…” was all Alina could mutter.

“I don’t mind training her while I’m around!” Okita jumped in with a smile, looking like she was trying to defuse the situation.

“I haven’t gotten to train a student in a long time either, if you want to _—_ ” Hijikata noted.

“Don’t do it!” Okita interjected. “He will crush your hopes and dreams! _Absolutely crush them!_ ”

“He is the Demon Vice Commander,” Alina replied with a laugh, glad to have the conversation shift. “I’ll consider it, at least.”

“It’s getting late, we should wrap up for the night,” Tsukasa said to steer the conversation back on topic again. “I feel it’s a given at this point, but as two competing Masters in this war, Alina, how do you feel about a truce? Our Servants refuse to fight each other anyway, so it only makes sense. This way, I can try and teach you a little about magic as well.”

“I’d feel more comfortable with allies, so I agree,” Alina replied with a nod. “Though I’ll try and pull my own weight.”

“As long as you’re not reckless, that’ll be fine. With that out of the way, I think you should stay at my house during the war, I’ve got plenty of space.”

“I’d… rather not leave my house, if that’s okay.” Tsukasa looked a bit hurt, but Alina averted my eyes.

“I understand… The offer still stands if you change your mind.”

* * *

“Why’d you refuse her offer?” Okita asked, materializing once they were in the privacy of Alina’s home once again. “I think it’s wiser to be around an experienced mage.”

“Then she’d have to protect me, and that’s not her job in this battle,” Alina replied, pulling her black jacket off and tossing it lazily onto the couch. She noticed the rest of the furniture was still out of place from the summoning ritual, so she started moving everything back.

“She seemed like she wanted to help you, not that it was a burden. She seemed rather sad actu _—_ ”

“How do Servants sleep, do you need a room or anything?” Alina interrupted abruptly. Okita fell silent and looked at Alina before sighing and dropping her shoulders.

“I’ll just be in spirit form, I’ll be fine,” she said a bit sadly before fading away.

Suddenly the room was as quiet and lifeless as Alina was used to. The silence felt harsher than she was used to this night. She finished sliding the furniture back in place, then went off to get ready for bed.

* * *

“Fill, fill, fill,” a woman with long, flowing black hair chanted as fresh blood dripped off her fingers. She painted a large magic circle on the wooden floor of a house that wasn’t hers. Soon her red ink ran dry, so she brushed her fingers against the flowing ink pot slouched against the wall. His blood was still warm against her fingers.

“Fill, fill,” she finished. “At least your blood will be used for something good,” she said, glancing at the corpse of the criminal she had brought justice to. “This Grail will grant me the power to judge others like you who evade the law. No one will escape after hurting others. Never again.”

The more she painted her canvas on the floor, the more power she felt electrifying the room. The law had failed society, had failed her. Evil had prevailed. Her only option was to use evil against itself.

“But thine eyes shalt be clouded by chaos. Thou shalt be trapped in a cage of madness, and I shall hold thy chains!” She needed a Servant who was accustomed to evil acts and who would blindly listen to her demands.

A ghastly smile grew on her face as the wind around her intensified and a light began to grow from the summoning circle.

“ _Something wicked this way comes._ ”


End file.
